Aidan’s Garage Sale Teepee

(This post was up this morning, but then I had some technical difficulties this afternoon resulting in an un-planned blog overhaul after a wordpress update gone bad! I lost the post, so I’m writing it again…)

Aidan has been wanting a teepee. He loves to dress up in his Indian costume and shoot his authentic bow and arrow that he got on a trip to west Texas. All he needed to complete the ensemble was a teepee! He’s been attempting to build one, but none of his ideas have really panned out. The other day, we were on our way out of the neighborhood when Aidan spotted a teepee at a garage sale. I thought he might be mistaken (who has a teepee to sell at their garage sale?), but I turned the van around and we went back. Sure enough, there was a teepee in the middle of the yard! Aidan hopped out of the van to check it out.

He came back to the van grinning from ear to ear and announced that the teepee was for sale for a bargain price of $5! I only had $4 cash with me, but thankfully the lady was happy to take that!

The teepee is a pretty neat design. It looks like maybe it was someone’s scout project! It’s made out of canvas fabric over a PVC pipe frame. There are screws that hold the canvas to the PVC pipes. The teepee looks like it was probably used outside and could use a good washing, and I’m thinking that I should be able to take the screws out, wash the canvas, and put it back together again.

At the top of the teepee, there are holes drilled in the PVC pipe, and a couple pieces of cord hold the pipes together. The cord is loose enough to allow the PVC pipes to move. The main stability of the structure comes from the fact that each PVC pipe runs through a “pocket” in the canvas. It’s a good size – all three of my older boys can fit in it together!

The whole thing folds up for easy storage. Pretty cool!

I thought I’d share our teepee in case there are other kids out there who want to build one, but I must admit… I’m thankful that we were able to pay $4 at a garage sale for ours!!!